COLUMNS GASTRONOME DECEMBER 2005 : LET’S TALK TURKEY

WORDS BY JANE BLACK

BEST CELLARS
Where to get the perfect present for a wine enthusiast.

Shopping for discriminating friends and family often poses an irritating conundrum: They have almost everything from the cashmere sweater to the glossy coffee-table book. And what they don’t have—a top-end set of golf clubs or a flat-screen TV—is far too expensive for a holiday gift. If you’re buying for a wine enthusiast, however, you’re in luck. An extensive array of wine clubs offers treats for even the most discerning palate, often at reasonable prices.

Until recently, many wine clubs have had an uneven reputation. Some used members to offload excess inventory and poor-quality bulk wines. But as wine drinkers have become more sophisticated, so have the clubs. “If someone gets home with a $20 or $40 bottle of wine and it’s not good, that’s a huge disappointment. What I want to do is take away the frustration of finding good wine,” says Sergio Esposito, the owner of New York-based Italian Wine Merchants, which launched its wine club last year. Deliveries from most clubs include the wine, tasting notes, profiles of the wineries and discounts on reorders, which can sometimes be as high as 20%.

Wine clubs can be divided into three types. First, there are international clubs like the Kimpton Life Wine Society, which ships hard-to-find wines, often from cult wineries such as Napa Valley’s Shafer Vineyards. Each month, the club selects two bottles at price points between $50 and $175. Membership at the top level is limited to 250 as selections sometimes include limited-production wines, such as Napa’s Duckhorn Reserve.

Next are the regional clubs—the best choice for enthusiasts who want to deepen their knowledge.

Italy-lovers need look no further than Italian Wine Merchants. The club is pricier than most but the selections are extraordinary. A recent bottle selection for the mid-level Big Wines of Italy Club included a 1999 Amarone with “sumptuous aromas of blackberries, truffle, pepper and cardamom.” Membership also includes six Spiegelau wine glasses and a signed, 515-page hardcover book.

The California Wine Club offers similar insight and exposure to California’s boutique wineries. Husband-and-wife team Pam and Bruce Boring travel the coast of California for their 10,000-plus members in search of the best mom-and-pop wineries, wh o often don’t produce enough to find national distribution. (Most of the wineries featured make just 25,000 cases a year.) Even better, members choose whether to receive wine monthly, bimonthly or quarterly.

Finally, most of the blue-chip California vineyards—Robert Mondavi, Kendall Jackson, Ridge Wines and Geyser Peak— now offer their own clubs, many of which ship limited-production wines that are not nationally distributed.

There is one catch: antiquated wine distribution laws. Though the Supreme Court ruled this year that it is unconstitutional to forbid wineries to ship to consumers across state lines, state laws have yet to catch up everywhere. For most people, though, there are loopholes that let the wine through. Wine.com boasts that with its 11 shipment centers, it can reach 87% of the wine-drinking population.

Whichever you choose, the clubs all have one great thing in common: The holidays don’t end with Christmas. Each month, another present arrives at the door. And even for the most discriminating, there’s nothing like the gift that keeps on giving.

Perfect Presents

Kimpton Wine Society
www.kimptonlife.com/kl_wine.html An international selection of two bottles costs $50, $100 or $175 per month.

Italian Wine Merchants
www.italianwinemerchants.com Three bottles from $97 per month to $259 per month.

The California Wine Club
www.cawineclub.com Entry-level club costs $32.95 per delivery. The upper level Signature Series varies from $90 to $175 depending on the selection.

Ridge Wine
www.ridgewine.com/clubs There’s no membership fee. You just pay the cost of the wines and shipping.

Geyser Peak
www.geyserpeakwinery.com The entry-level club starts at as little as $25 per quarterly shipment. The upper level Reserve Club ranges from $75 to $95 per quarter.